Chapter 477 - Something Rotten.
"Goddammit."
I cursed at the sight before me as soon as I returned.
Because this was precisely Bigo, the place where I had first met Dang Je-mun.
'Did I just get kicked out?'
Ha.
I let out a hollow laugh at the absurd situation.
She stopped mid-conversation, said her piece, and kicked me out.
"Why do all those so-called heroes have to act like this?"
We hadn't even had a proper conversation yet.
Saying something as if she knew, then tossing me aside like this—does that even make sense?
Click.
I had to grit my teeth at this shitty situation.
'What about Noya?'
Even then, I tried to check whether Noya was there or not.
But I neither felt nor heard anything in particular.
'He's probably not asleep again.'
Since the vessel issue has been roughly resolved, I don't think Noya fell asleep.
Then....
'Did Dang Je-mun do something here too?'
For now, it seemed right to think so.
Hoo....
I suppressed my somewhat heated emotions.
And first, I recalled the conversation I had with Dang Je-mun.
She had clearly said that there was something I had forgotten, and that I must have felt it through the test she showed me.
'What is it?'
I have no idea.
If I've forgotten something, it wouldn't be the Demon Sword Empress, nor the Divine Sword.
And it would be even less likely to be those who were already dead by then.
'Should I examine the anomalies I was involved in?'
Thinking along those lines, there was only one person who particularly came to mind.
Someone flashed through my head, but I didn't dwell on it.
'Impossible.'
Because it was something that absolutely couldn't happen.
'...Absolutely impossible.'
To be precise, it was something that must never happen.
If I were to list a few anomalies that occurred in that world, the strange movements of the Murim Alliance and the movements of the Heavenly Lord could be called problems.
But in the end, if I had to point to the biggest event.
It would be the appearance of the Heavenly Demon.
'What could I possibly have to do with the Heavenly Demon?'
That is why I didn't dwell on it. The very idea of being entangled with the Heavenly Demon was absurd.
However. If I had to pick one problem there.
'...'
The biggest problem was that I couldn't deny it with certainty.
'...What is this?'
What is this vague unease that I almost understand yet cannot grasp?
I don't know.
Whether it was right after meeting the Heavenly Demon of the other world, or right after encountering Dang Je-mun.
Or perhaps much earlier than that.
Maybe after I shattered my vessel myself and absorbed all the blood qi, but.
At some point, I had been feeling an inexplicable unease.
And this is a sensation I feel when I think of the Heavenly Demon.
'What the hell.'
Why do I feel this way?
Combined with this wretched sensation, Dang Je-mun's words mixed together, piling one thought upon another.
Though if she asks whether I forgot something, there doesn't seem to be anything I have forgotten.
Yet those words strangely bind my heart.
Is there really something?
'...With the Heavenly Demon?'
Come to think of it, there were more than one or two strange things.
At one point, the Heavenly Demon was the most likely candidate for the person who caused my regression.
'Why.'
If that were truly the case, by what means did the Heavenly Demon regress me, and moreover, why?
Did even the Heavenly Demon harbor some intention toward me?
'But there are too many strange things to see it that way.'
For starters, if I recall when I first met the Heavenly Demon.
I could tell her goal had not been me.
It was when a unit was formed in the Alliance for demon hunting.
When the unit went outside for a mission.
It was there that I encountered the Heavenly Demon.
The Heavenly Demon had annihilated the martial artists of the Alliance nearby as easily as stepping on bugs.
I had to flee from there with Wi Seol-a.
Because the Heavenly Demon had ambushed us, targeting the Divine Sword... Wi Seol-a.
In that process, I had fallen into becoming a demon, but looking at this.
'The goal wasn't me.'
I could tell the goal hadn't been me.
At the time, I had definitely thought so.
'...But now?'
Time passed, and now doubts arise.
Was it Dang Je-mun's words?
Or was it something else?
There was definitely something.
It was a thought that surfaced as I forcibly cooled my emotions and racked my brain.
The fog had thinned.
It felt as if the fog that had been covering my eyes without my knowledge had grown slightly thinner.
No, did I not even realize there was fog in the first place?
'...I don't know. I still don't know.'
It might not be about the Heavenly Demon.
It might be something else entirely, but.
Right now, I couldn't know.
'It's funny that I'm even thinking about this now.'
It's amusing that I'm recalling things one by one after hearing Dang Je-mun's words, things I hadn't thought of until now.
'...'
While quietly repeating my thoughts.
'This.'
I realized something strange.
Right, why hadn't I thought of it?
Doubts about the Heavenly Demon.
I hadn't thought deeply about it until now. Isn't that strange?
Even though I thought it was the biggest problem. Even though I knew it was dangerous, I had barely been conscious of it.
Why am I doing this now?
As I realized them one by one, I involuntarily swallowed dryly.
Now I realized.
That I had been intentionally avoiding thoughts and doubts about the Heavenly Demon.
'Every time I tried to think about it, I would unknowingly avoid it.'
The moments I vaguely brushed it off as a matter for the future, or said there were urgent matters to attend to first.
Only now do I recall that there had been a problem with all of that.
It feels as if someone was forcibly blocking me.
What?
Then why am I able to think about it now?
'...No way.'
I recalled swallowing tea during my recent conversation with Dang Je-mun.
'Fragment of Oblivion,' was it?
Dang Je-mun had clearly said that.
Could it be? Did this happen because I drank that?
At the moment when some inexplicable certainty welled up in my heart.
Grr....
At the sudden growl, I turned my head.
I raised energy in my body by instinct.
Is there something else here besides me?
Fwoosh-!
I ignited flames.
'Tch.'
Seeing the brilliantly burning azure flame, I clicked my tongue without realizing it.
I could somehow manage with the purplish-red flame, but such an eye-catching color was problematic.
Setting the flames aside for now, just as I heightened my senses and was about to rush toward the source of the growl.
Grrr-
"...Hm?"
Along with another growl, something hiding behind a pillar revealed itself.
And upon confirming its appearance, my eyes went wide immediately.
"Blood qi?"
Because its appearance resembled a certain creature I had seen not long ago.
Namely, that so-called dragon (龍) that had gone mad trying to take over my body.
Grr....
Its body wasn't house-sized like that one had been.
It was smaller than me, but its form clearly resembled that creature.
Beautifully spread blue scales, as if following a rule.
Short fur running down its back, and limbs.
On top of that, a torn muzzle and sharp fangs.
'Why is a creature like this here?'
Before the question could even register, my body moved.
I intended to catch it first and think later.
Swoosh-!
Twisting my body like that, I extended my fist toward it.
Just before the blazing fist touched its body.
Grr.
"...!"
Meeting its eyes, I urgently twisted my body aside.
Hwoosh-!
Kwaaaack-!
My fist dug into the pillar beside it, flames erupting.
Crackle-! Boom-!
The pillar shattered and collapsed.
A loud noise burst out as the pillar crashed to the floor.
I just had to control and retract the flames, but.
I simply stared at it with eyes much wider than before.
Even though I came right up to its nose, it only tilted its head, taking no attacking stance.
"You..."
Seeing that, I asked it in a bewildered voice.
"...Could it be, Jeoksusa?"
Light sparked in its eyes upon hearing my words. And then.
Grr.
It nodded its head slightly.
"..."
Seeing that, I was momentarily at a loss for words.
The magic stone of that red-grade demonic beast I caught.
The Jeoksusa that hatched from inside it.
This is that guy?
"But why did it end up like this?"
I had nothing to say.
Because its appearance was completely different.
At best, it had been a thin snake barely able to coil around an arm.
Now, if stretched out, it was as long as my body. And much thicker.
No, aside from being long and flexible, its color and appearance had become an entirely different creature.
If you ask how I recognized it as Jeoksusa in such a situation.
Hmm.
It was because the energy I felt from my body was resonating with it.
Perhaps that was why? I could naturally tell it was Jeoksusa.
Grr.
It extended its snout and rubbed its face against me.
Gone was the thin, long tongue, and a massive tongue brushed past my cheek.
"It's covered in drool, you brat."
Maybe because its size had increased, its drool was no joke either.
'What happened?'
While roughly patting it, I tried to figure out what this situation was.
It didn't seem like I'd need to think long.
"Is it because of me?"
Seeing those scales and its resonance with my energy, it's obvious why Jeoksusa became like this.
"...Because I changed. Did you change along with me?"
Grr?
It tilted its head as if unable to understand my words.
Despite its somewhat more ferocious exterior, its behavior remained the same.
'Fortunately, it seems only its appearance has changed.'
That is the biggest problem.
'What do I do about this size?'
Things were happening so fast that I hadn't been paying attention, and it was a relief in its own way that it came back with me like this, but I had managed to hide it somehow when it was a small snake; now, hiding it was impossible.
Looking at it tilting its head while dangling its whiskers, I felt even more conflicted.
'And what the hell is this guy anyway.'
Setting aside that it's a demonic beast born from eating my energy from the magic stone. To think its appearance changes depending on my energy.
'It won't change any further from here, right?'
That was a scary thought. What am I supposed to do if it gets bigger?
'If it gets bigger...'
The image of the blood qi I faced in my mental image flashed through my mind.
That one was quite large.
It was even more problematic because its size was comparable to the Jeoksusa I had met at the river.
'And what about food?'
Even now I was at a loss about what to feed it; if it got bigger, that would be a problem of its own.
'Ha.'
Thinking about it, I burst out laughing without realizing it.
Because I found it funny that instead of thinking of abandoning it, I was worrying about how to feed it.
As I was roughly patting its head, it diligently rubbed its head against me.
After patting it a few times, I turned my head.
"Hm."
While surveying my surroundings, I suddenly found what I was looking for and moved toward it.
Something piled up at the edge of Bigo.
Namely, Poison Heavenly Pills and White Horse Stones.
Thankfully, they were exactly as I had first found them.
"..."
At first, I had drooled at the sight of these. But looking at them now, the same emotions didn't pass through me.
I carefully picked up one Poison Heavenly Pill.
"Hm..."
Is it safe to eat this in this body? I still hadn't properly figured out what had happened.
It was a somewhat hesitant situation.
'What about my martial art.'
Is the Demonic Heavenly Absorption Technique still intact?
Setting down the Poison Heavenly Pill I was holding, I quietly grabbed a White Horse Stone.
Hmm.
The moment I performed the Demonic Heavenly Absorption Technique, I immediately felt energy being absorbed.
It seemed my martial art hadn't changed just because my body had.
'Then does that mean it's safe to consume energy?'
Just as I was checking my condition bit by bit.
Ssssss.
"...!"
A flower fragrance came from somewhere, and something like heat briefly spread across my body.
'This feeling is...'
At the familiar presence, my eyes darted about.
[Ugh....]
As expected. A voice I often heard resonated in my head.
'Noya?'
[...]
Feeling that Divine Noya had arrived, I tried speaking to him, but for some reason, Noya gave no answer.
'Noya?'
[...]
What?
'Could it be...'
Did he disappear again this time?
Just as I was about to be swept away by such anxiety.
[...Do not speak to me.]
Thankfully, it seemed he hadn't disappeared.
"Why is that?"
When I asked in wonder.
[I am in a rather embarrassing state right now... Do not speak to me for the time being.]
'...Ah, yes.'
It seemed something had happened after all.
I was a bit concerned because his voice sounded extremely dejected.
'Noya, I'm asking just in case.'
He had told me not to speak, but I absolutely had to ask this.
'Did you get hit?'
[...]
There was no answer.
I had asked half-jokingly, but could it be real...?
'Noya... could it be, really...'
[W-who said I got hit!]
'...'
He shouted at my suspicion.
Judging by his reaction, it seemed he truly had been hit.
I couldn't see his face to confirm his condition, but judging by the tremble in his voice, he felt quite thoroughly scolded.
And the person who had scolded Noya like this.
-This is....
Before I knew it, she had appeared right behind me.
-What happened here?
I sensed bewilderment and a hint of anger.
Wondering what was going on, I turned my head to look.
"Ah."
I immediately understood why Dang Je-mun was saying that.
A pillar of Bigo was broken.
Dang Je-mun was frowning at the collapsed pillar.
The gaze she directed at it looked quite sharp.
Soon.
-Huin....
Her gaze turned this way, and the moment I met those fierce eyes.
"Haah."
I immediately sighed and simultaneously pointed somewhere with my finger.
There.
Krrng?
The Jeoksusa (or what had been it) that received my gesture was tilting its head.
Facing those round, innocent eyes, without a moment's hesitation, I shouted.
"I told you to be careful...! How dare you go around breaking everything like that!"
Like scolding a wayward child.
Of course.
-...Huin?
It obviously didn't work.
And for good reason....
Fwoosh....
My azure flame was still burning on the pieces of the pillar.